New Credit Card Laws and Rules 2010: Late Fees And Minimum Payment?

There are going to be new credit card laws and rules for 2010 effective February 2010.
What do you think of the new credit card regulations? Will they actually hurt responsible users?
In my opinion In order to help irresponsible credit card users, the new rules and laws may actually hurt responsible users. But I'm not sure if my thinking is correct.
Can you explain in detail the new credit card rules to me? How is it going to affect responsible credit card users? What about the late fees and minimum payment rules?

As of today phase two of the Credit Card Act of 2009 takes effect. It calls on card issuers to mend some ways.

If you haven't already received a disclosure about these changes from your credit card company then you probably will.
A huge portion of the changes affect interest rates and fees.

The new law is expected to cost the industry as much as $5.5 billion in lost revenue this year and more than $50 billion through 2015, according to the credit card advisory firm R.K. Hammer.

To help you avoid late fees, card issuers now have to send statements 21 days before payment is due, a week more than the previous requirement.

Under the new law, lenders are not only prevented from raising rates on a customer's existing balance, they are also required to wait 60 days before raising rates on delinquent customers.

They're now required to send ample notification if they plan to make changes to the terms of your card and they must employ clear, simple standard payment dates and times.

The new law also restricts interest rate increases for the first year after you open an account.

These new rules don't absolve consumers of their obligation to pay their bills, but they finally level the playing field so that every family and small business using a credit card has the information they need to make responsible financial decisions.